The Hunger Games of Equestria: Book One
by Almost an Actress
Summary: Rainbow Dash does not live a charmed life. She takes care of her adopted sister, Sweetie Belle, and hunts with her best friend Applejack, haunted by memories of her dead father. But when Sweetie's name is chosen for the Hunger Games, Rainbow Dash must make the decision that will change - and most likely take her life.
1. Reaping Day

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes in the pearly dawn. She looked to the side, ready to stroke her adopted sister's mane. Her hoof met rough, potato sack-like covers instead of a soft pink and purple mane. Her mind flashed with a blind, cold-sweat panic. A flashback roared through her thoughts:

Sweetie Belle, running through the streets. Her lavender and coral pink mane was streaked with mud and bright red blood. She was bleeding from numerous wounds, hysterically sobbing. She risked a quick glance behind her, her teary eyes blurring what she saw. Through the blur she could make out a pack of vicious Diamond Dogs. "Little filly! Little filly! Come back, won't you? We just want to talk!" one of them sneered mockingly.

"NO!" Sweetie Belle shrieked, and ran faster. She ran up the sagging steps of the nearest hovel, pounding on the door with her hooves. "Let me in!" she screamed. "Let me in! Please! Oh, God! Please!"

The door was wrenched open, and Sweetie Belle was pulled in by a bright blue hoof. The door was then slammed shut. The Diamond Dogs slammed and pounded on the door, roaring and snarling. Sweetie Belle shook in the forelegs of the unknown pony.

"What happened?" the blue pony asked. "You're Sweetie Belle, right?"

"Y-y-yeah," Sweetie Belle stammered. "My sister. Rarity. Dress shop. She owned the dress shop. The Dogs. The Diamond Dogs." She gave a shuddering sob as the Dogs screamed curses and roared threats outside the door.

"What happened, kid?" the blue pony asked again. "What really happened?"

"They… kicked down the door. Rarity told me to hide. I hid behind a rack of musty old dresses. They… killed my sister." All was quiet except the pounding and snarling of the Diamond Dogs. "I ran away. You saved my life but- … They killed my sister! THEY KILLED MY SISTER! THEY KILLED RARITY! THEY KILLED RARITY!" Sweetie Belle began to get hysterical. "THEY KILLED HER!"

The blue savior shook Sweetie by the shoulders. "Hey. Calm down, kid. I'm Rainbow Dash. I'll take care of you from now on, alright? Alright?"

Sweetie just whimpered something about blood and dresses.

"Not good enough!" Rainbow Dash announced. "I'm killin' those Diamond Dogs – and you're helping me!" She wrenched the heavy door open and kicked a Diamond Dog in the face. He tumbled down the steps, screeching, "KILL HER!"

Rainbow Dash just grinned, and reached calmly for the bow she had made herself only a day before. Not as good as her hunting bow that was left in the forest, but good enough for the task at hoof.

XXX

And here she was, freaking out because the adopted sister she had come to love was missing. She was only twelve years old, much too young to fend for herself. "Sweetie Belle?" Dash whispered hoarsely in the darkness of the house. Suddenly she looked over and saw her sleeping with their – Rainbow Dash's – mother. Sometimes she forgot that Sweetie wasn't her real sister. Dash rose softly, put on her Diamond Dog-hide hunting jacket, and trotted out of the house. Birds chirped as if nothing was wrong.

But it was Reaping Day. So really, everything was wrong.

She was alone, the uneven, jutting cobblestones that made up the streets stabbed into the bottoms of her hooves, which, luckily, were like leather. It didn't hurt anymore. Usually the ugly little streets were packed with dogged miners, but not on Reaping Day. Where Dash lived was called the Seam, where everypony was covered with a layer of ash and soot. She squeezed underneath the giant "electric" fence and trotted into the woods. She retrieved her bow and arrows, and hunting bag from their hiding places.

Suddenly, a pair of strong hooves clapped on her shoulders. If she had been Sweetie's age, Rainbow Dash would've screamed. Now, though, she kicked out her back legs and bucked her attacker in the stomach, not too hard, though.

"Oof!" the twang-y voice grunted. "Yeh got a strong buck, there girlie." It was Applejack, Rainbow Dash's best friend and hunting partner.

Dash just smirked. "You know better than to sneak up on me, AJ," she teased, snatching the pony's dusty cowboy hat.

"Gimme that hat!" AJ roared, and tackled Rainbow Dash. They spent a good twenty minutes wrestling good-naturedly.

"We just scared off all the game," Rainbow Dash muttered when they were done beating each other up.

Applejack giggled. "Well we don't need game. Look what I've got, darlin'." She produced a steaming, crumbly loaf of bread and ripped it in half.

Rainbow Dash squealed and chomped into a half.

XXX

After she got home, loaded down with stupider game, Rainbow found her mother – Firefly – dressing her sister up in her Reaping outfit. It was a plain white blouse with a long skirt that she tripped over when she walked. "Hey, little duck," Rainbow smirked. "Tuck your shirt tail in so you don't have a feathery bottom!"

Sweetie offered a nervous giggle. "Dashie? Mother?" she whimpered. "What if… what if I get reaped?"

"You _won't_," Firefly answered, running a pink hoof through her adopted daughter's mane. "I promise."

"It's your first year, Belle," Rainbow assured her sister. "Your name is in there _once_. Now me, on the other hoof, my name is in there a bunch of times. So my chances are-" She stopped talking when Sweetie looked panicked. "Don't worry," Rainbow chuckled. "I won't get picked. Here, c'mere, little duck. Let me do your mane." She combed and combed while her mother drew her mane into braids.

They trotted to square, Sweetie Belle the duck, Firefly the fretting mother, and Rainbow Dash in a white dress. They were herded into their age groups. Rainbow Dash cried, "Don't worry, Belle!"

Suddenly, a happy-looking pink mare bounced on to the stage in front of the stone-faced mares and stallions. "Fillies and gentlecolts!" she squealed. "Welcome, welcome!" '

The crowd was silent.

"I'm Pinkie Pie!"

Silence.

"Tough crowd… as usual."

Silence.

"Fine then! Let's pull out the tributes and get this over with," Pinkie grumbled. "Mares first!" she added with a wink at the silent crowd. She reached a candy-pink hoof into the mares bowl and read out clearly, "Sweetie Belle!"

Rainbow Dash surged forward. "SWEETIE! SWEETIE!"

"DASHIE!" Sweetie screamed, running towards her sister. She was barred by several guards.

"I VOLENTEER!"


	2. The Tributes of District Twelve

Rainbow Dash stood utterly still, her desperate, shrill cry still echoing around the poor citizens of District Twelve. "I… I volunteer," she murmured, all four of her legs shaking like jelly. Lifting her head, she made eye contact with Pinkie Pie, whose mouth was practically touching the stage. She gave a fierce glare. "I said I volunteer!" Rainbow shouted.

Rainbow's defiant shout was followed a shriek: "DASHIE!"

Rainbow's steely resolve melted like an ice cube. She ran over to her sister and hugged her hard. "It's okay, Belle. It's okay."

A pair of peacekeepers galloped foreword and grabbed Sweetie Belle up roughly. "Step away from the tribute!" one of them growled.

Applejack ran out of the line where the other eighteen-year-olds were. "Ah've got the girl!" she snarled fiercely. "Let 'er go." She scooped Belle under a foreleg and trotted backwards, trying to hide her shock.

Sweetie Belle screamed like she was being clubbed to death. "DASHIE! DASHIE!" she shrieked.

Rainbow Dash bowed her head, and did the hardest thing she had ever done: ignored her sister and walked up to the stage. She trotted up the steps stiffly, stood next to Pinkie Pie, and turned to face the crowd, trying not let the fear in her eyes show though.

Pinkie Pie finally managed to close her mouth and shook her head, pasting on a cotton candy-smile. "Okie dokey lokey!" Pinkie smiled. "Perfect! I bet my super fun mane that was your sister! Huh? Huh? Huh? Was I right? Huh? Was I? Was I? Was I? Although… wait. She was a unicorn and you're a Pegasus. Huh. Whatever, though. Was I right? Did I get it right?" Her eyes went giant, and Rainbow Dash could see herself reflected in the dark blacks of Pinkie's eyes.

"Y-yes," Rainbow stammered, her voice sounding gravely. "My adopted… my sister."

"Aw! That's super duper duper sweet that you volunteered for her!" Pinkie beamed, giving Rainbow Dash showy kisses on both cheeks.

Rainbow coiled away, snarling, "Don't touch me," quietly, so that only Pinkie could hear.

"Super duper sweet," Pinkie continued, pretending not to hear Rainbow's hostility, "but there's a little intsy complication. We hafta _ask_ for volunteers, you can't just_ say_ it, silly! It ruins the show! But still, that _was_ a pretty good show you put on, miss…"

"Rainbow Dash."

"Miss Rainbow Dash."

She looked over at the mayor of the town, a slightly-snobby stallion named Filthy Rich. He sighed, as if he was suddenly tired. "Let her go. She's a friend of my daughter."

Rainbow thought of her friend Diamond Tiara. They had started out as bitter enemies, at first. Diamond Tiara had been making fun of Sweetie Belle at school so Rainbow had set her straight with a good slap, and then they'd been fast friends ever since then. She shook her head. "I am," she muttered. "A friend of his daughter's."

"Oh, okie pokey lokey!" Pinkie grinned. "Let's choose a stallion, then." She reached into the large glass bowl containing the names of all the young stallions of District Twelve. "And the lucky stallion is… Braeburn!"

A Southern pony that Rainbow recognized as one of Applejack's many relatives trotted nervously towards the stage. This time it was Applejack who screamed. "BRAE!" she roared, dropping Sweetie and running towards the stage. She was barred by several peacekeepers and came to her senses, walking away sheepishly and snatching Sweetie up again. Rainbow knew Braeburn was a relative of her best friend's, but she also remembered him for another reason…

He had saved her life once.

She shook her head. She couldn't afford to think like that. If she had to kill him, she wouldn't be going all sob-story.

_Hah!_ she thought. _I'm already thinking like a career!_


	3. Visitations and Tears

Rainbow Dash and Braeburn were roughly herded into the Justice Building for their last visitations. Rainbow almost broke down the minute she came inside. A memory tore at her:

_She was eleven years old, and had just gotten her cutie mark. She wished Daddy was around to see it… _

_ "Miss Rainbow Dash," Filthy Rich, the mayor, had said. "I award you this medal of valor for-" The rest of his words blurred into a mix of blah, blah, blah and mmmmmmmpfff. _

_ "I miss you, Daddy," Rainbow whispered when the medal was placed around her neck._

XXX

Rainbow shook her head. She was in a small, luxurious room. Velvet couches and plush pillows and thick carpeting. She lay down one the carpet and buried her face in it, breathing in the powdery smell. It smelled _great_.

"Rainbow?" came a squeaky voice. "Are you… crying?"

The blue pony's head shot up. "I… no," she chuckled. "I was sniffing the carpet." There was an awkward pause. "Smells good." She studied Sweetie Belle's face. Her eyes were shiny and red from sobbing, and there was snot smeared all over her muzzle from where she had hurriedly wiped her face to hide her tears. _She was trying to be brave for me,_ Rainbow realized sadly. Rainbow wrapped her front legs around her sister and held her, murmuring positive things into her mane. She angled her eyes towards her mother and stopped reassuring Belle. "You can't leave again," she said in a steely voice. "When Daddy… er, _Dad_ died, you left. You were despondent. I had to take head of the family at eleven. You can't do that again!"

"I know," Firefly said quietly. She looked down at the plush carpeting. "I won't. I promise. I won't."

"You'd better not. Promise me that Belle won't hunt. Don't let her put her tesserae. Promise me you'll keep her safe." She grabbed her mother's front leg and squeezed. "I won't be able to be the head of family anymore! Take care of her! Don't let her starve! _DO YOU HEAR ME?!_" Her voice was getting shriller and angrier.

Firefly wrenched her leg from her daughter's grip. "I was sick! I could've… fixed myself if I'd been into healing the way I am now."

"Then take your God damn medicine!" Rainbow roared; she still had one foreleg wrenched protectively around her sister. "And take care of Belle!"

Sweetie Belle looked up, sniffling. "She won't need to," she said quietly.

"Yes she will. She will because you're not hunting. You're not putting in tesserae either."

"No, she won't," Belle insisted. "Because you're coming back. You can win, I bet you can. You're super fast and brave. And you can fly, too." She pulled away from her sister's embrace and placed her small white hooves on Dash's bright blue shoulders. "You can win."

"Oh, Belle," Rainbow whispered, wanting to be strong in front of her adopted sister. "My mane is _rainbow_. My pelt is _bright blue_. I'll stick out like a sore hoof." Rainbow's bright colors were unusual for District Twelve. A natural rainbow mane was unheard of. In the Capitol, though, ponies could dye their manes any color.

She knew she wouldn't win. The ponies from other Districts were five… ten times stronger than her. Ponies that could lift hundred pound weights with just their wings. Ponies that could flick a knife and, without even glancing, hit another pony straight in the head. Ponies who could cast spells that were full of torture and death. Ponies who could… kill her.

"But you will try to win… won't you? For me?"

Those words penetrated her heart. She knew she had to try. "I promise, Belle."

The door came open with a harsh smack. "Time's up," a peacekeeper growled. "Out."

Rainbow Dash hugged Belle and her mother as hard as she could, simply saying, "I love you. I love you both." And suddenly, they were ushered out the room. She buried her head in one of the pillows and tried not to cry. The door opened softly. She looked up quickly.

It was Braeburn's father.

Rainbow wondered why he'd come to visit. After all, she might be killing his son. Who knew? She had never done anything for him. Sometimes he traded bread for Applejack's squirrels, but she'd never had a conversation with him other than polite chit-chat.

"Howdy, Miss Dash," the gruff stallion said.

"Um... hi?" Rainbow asked.

From his saddle bags, he produced a little bag of cookies. "It's fer ya."

Rainbow was touched. "Th-thank you," the tough pony stammered. "You know Applejack, right? She got some bread from you this morning. Traded it, I guess. Um… thanks again. Yeah…"

"Yer a good, girlie, Rainbow," the big stallion said, giving her an awkward pat on the shoulder. "Ah'll make sure the little one gets fed. She's a good kid." He trotted out of the room. Rainbow clutched the cookies to her chest and sniffled. She gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut until the tears passed. She wasn't sure she could handle any more visitors.

The door opened softly again, and Diamond Tiara came in, her soft pink fur perfectly combed as usual. "Hi, Rainbow," she said quietly.

"Hey there, DT."

Diamond Tiara's eyes flashed with something. Urgency, desperation, sadness? Maybe all three. "They let you take a token from your District to the arena. Have you thought about what you're going to wear?" the twelve-year-old pony said urgently.

"Diamond, I haven't even thought that far. I'm still in shock, I guess. All I'm thinking about is how to keep Belle safe."

"Then would you take this?" Diamond asked, handing Rainbow a golden pen. It was circular with a golden pony stretching across it, her dainty front hooves barley scraping on end of the circle, and her back hooves straddling the other side of it. The pony was an alicorn with beautiful feathery wings and a long horn. Her cutie mark was a crescent moon in a night sky.

Rainbow gasped. "Is this… Princess Luna?" she whispered, fretful of video cameras in the room.

"You bet it is," Diamond said malevolently with a wicked grin.

_Cookies, a very fancy, very__** forbidden **__gold pin, I'm getting a lot of gifts, Rainbow thought. _Diamond kissed her on the cheek and walked out of the room.

Rainbow held the pin in her hooves and thought about how two sisters had once ruled in harmony. One the sun and one the moon. The sister of the moon had gotten jealous of the sister of the sun, because ponies shunned her beautiful night, and frolicked in her sister's hot daytime. Her envy had turned her into a horrible creature, and she had gotten banished to the moon for one thousand years by the sister of the sun. When she came back, the sister of the moon was still evil, but was soon defeated by six courageous ponies. They were brave stallions, decedents of a few residents of Ponyville, including AJ, herself, and Belle. The rest of the descendents were scattered around Equestria.

Anyway, the sisters of the sun and moon had lived in harmony for about two hundred more years. But the sister of the sun began to get jealous of the sister of the moon, this time. She plotted to have the sister of the moon killed, and then took over Equestria. She divided towns and cities into "Districts." When ponies rebelled, she wiped them out and made something called The Hunger Games. Just to show the ponies she was boss. The pin had the sister of the moon on it, which was a big no-no.

"Hey Rainbow Crash," a gentle voice said. Rainbow Dash fell into the forelegs of her best friend and let the tears finally flow. The old, comfortable nickname had broken her. "Listen, Crashie," Applejack drawled, "gettin' yer hooves on a knife shouldn't be too hard. But ya gotta get those same hooves on a bow. That'll be yer best chance, hear me?"

"They… they might not have bows," Rainbow sniffled, and leaned into Applejack. She heard her best friend's heartbeat chugging in her ear, and it gave her hope. Applejack smelled of smoke, apples, and sweat. Like hard work.

"Make one," AJ answered simply.

They argued back and forth about three minutes about wood to make bows, when a peacekeeper opened the door and said, "No more visitors. Leave now."

Rainbow clung to Applejack's hoof, screaming, "Don't let her starve, AJ!"

"I won't!"

And that was the last of Applejack Rainbow ever thought she would see.


	4. The Avox

Rainbow sat on the speeding train, lost in thought. Pinkie Pie was babbling about how excited she ought to be now that she was going to see Canterlot. Braeburn was moping by another window, obviously crying.

"Has anypony seen our trainer?" Rainbow finally said. "Or whatever he's called. Shouldn't he be, I dunno… _training_ us?"

"_She_, silly-filly!" Pinkie Pie giggled. "Her name is Berry Punch; a real crackup!"

Braeburn looked over mournfully, got up, and sat down next to Rainbow Dash. "Berry Punch? Ain't she, well, a drunk?" he stammered.

"What?" Rainbow said sarcastically. "Don't wanna be rude?"

"Ah've got my reasons," Braeburn drawled quietly. "Ya'll got yers."

Pinkie gently tapped the table. "Sorry to be a rudie-pony, but I gotta interrupt. Berry Punch is, well…"

Almost as if on cue, a grape-colored pony burst through the doors of the dining car. "You called?" she slurred, almost toppling over. She tried to walk on two legs, falling into Braeburn's front legs. "Hey," she noted. "You're pretty."

"Um… thank ya?" Braeburn stammered.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. She was sick and done with all of this mess! All of the ponies who were sad to see her go, all of the gifts, all of the stupidness! With a hoarse cry, she opened the window on the speeding train, and threw the first thing her hooves found out the window. It just so happened to be the cookies. "Damn!" Rainbow muttered. "I like cookies."

Braeburn cowered into the seat with big eyes. "Uh… Miss Dash?" she stammered. "C-can ah ask you a… a… question?"

"What?" Rainbow sighed tiredly, wanting more than anything to block her ears with a pillow and forget this whole stupid thing.

"Um… ah don't mean to offend ya, but're ya'll… ya know, manic 'r somethin'? 'R maybe bipolar?"

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Rainbow muttered, stalked out of the train car and into her room for a nap.

In her room, Rainbow was surprised to find a pale yellow mare with a crazy orange mane in her bedroom, making the bed with hospital corners. Upon hearing the approach of hoof steps, the mare turned around with fear in her eyes. She shook her head and displayed her hooves in front of her, in the universal symbol of _Don't shoot! _

"Who are you?" Rainbow asked suspiciously. "Why are you in my room?"

The mare shook her head again, frowning with scared eyes. She looked at the ceiling and angled said scared eyes at a video camera recording everything.

Rainbow shook her own head this time, disgusted. What was wrong with everypony?!

The mare made a choked whimper and bowed her head, mouthing, "I'm sorry."

"About what? Who are you? Why won't you talk?" Rainbow demanded.

The mare sighed and pointed to her pelt.

"Um… fur?" Rainbow asked.

A head shake was the scared mare's response.

"Yellow?"

The mare tilted her hoof in a "so-so" motion.

"Er… golden?"

The mare nodded earnestly. The mare mimed digging, hoeing, and picking.

"Um… farm work?"

A headshake.

"Appaloosa?" This was Equestria's harvesting District, otherwise known as District 11.

Another headshake.

"Harvest?"

The mare nodded with bright eyes, mouthing, "Golden Harvest."

"Is that your name?"

The mare nodded.

"Golden Harvest. Nice name. Why won't you talk?"

The mare opened her mouth. Rainbow stared into the cavernous black space. Something was wrong. Something was missing. Oh, God. Rainbow squeezed her eyes shut and shoved a hoof in her mouth to keep from vomiting.

_ Golden Harvest didn't have a tongue._

She was an Avox, the tongueless servants of Canterlot.

"Oh, God," Rainbow muttered, "Oh, God. I'm… I'm so sorry. Crap."

Golden Harvest nodded sadly, taking Rainbow's hoof in her own and squeezing it. She mouthed, "Good luck."

Rainbow felt tears coming, but harshly wiped them away. "D-do you have a nickname, Golden Harvest?" Rainbow said, her voice breaking.

Golden Harvest pointed to her cutie mark, a bunch of carrots.

"Carrot?"

A nod.

She pointed to the crown of her head.

"Head?"

No.

"Crown?"

No.

"Mane?"

No.

"Uh… top?"

Nod.

"Carrot Top? That's cute." Rainbow put a foreleg around the sad pony. "I promise, Carrot Top. I'll avenge you," she snarled.


End file.
